The present invention relates to a process for antiquing fabric. Particularly, the process is appropriate for imparting a worn, distressed, and faded look to the fabric.
A worn, distressed, and faded look in fabric has gained great popularity in today""s market for apparel, upholstery, flags, banners, home furnishing, etc. This is especially true for denim base cotton fabric which is often treated to produce a stonewashed look. During treatment, the fabric is usually subjected to mechanical and/or chemical action to produce a worn, distressed, and faded look. The process used to achieve such a look or appearance is referred to herein as antiquing.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,740,213 to Ricci discloses a method of producing a random faded effect on fabrics where pumice is impregnated with a bleaching agent such as sodium hypochlorite. These granules are tumbled with the fabric to be treated in a rotating drum (not in a liquid bath) for a set period of time, and then the oxidizing agent is neutralized by washing the garments. The method produces the look sometimes called xe2x80x9cacid washxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstonewash.xe2x80x9d
U.S. Pat. No. 5,558,676 to Gray et al. discloses a method of treating garments to produce a faded or distressed look using a gel composition comprising an oxidizing agent and a gelling agent. The gel composition is used to tumble with the fabric, during which tumbling the gel is smeared, by the random collisions of the garments with each other and the walls of the tumbler, and/or with a spreading agent, onto the garments. Where the gel contacts the garment, a degree of oxidizing or dye removal occurs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,515 to Kafry et al. discloses a method of randomly fading fabric. The method comprises providing a wet fabric along with one or more hammering body having an external surface with a plurality of protrusions, and a powder comprising a bleaching agent to a tumbling chamber. The fabric, hammering body, and bleaching agent are tumbled in the chamber such that the protrusions of the hammering body repeatedly strike the fabric, thereby driving the powder into the fabric until a desired fading effect is achieved. After tumbling, the faded fabric is separated from the hammering body.
A worn looking fabric can also be prepared by sandblasting. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,739 to Montesano discloses a method for creating an overall worn look with specific areas of heavy wear. In the method, the fabric to be treated is placed onto a flat surface with the surface of the fabric to be treated exposed. The areas of the fabric in which heavy wear is desired, are sandblasted until the amount of wear in that area is achieved. The second step for creating an overall worn look of the garment is a stone-wash process in which the entire fabric is treated so that it fades and additional random worn marks are created to give the garment an overall worn look.
Chemical means without using abrasives to achieve the same or similar results have also been used. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,124 to Tieckelmann et al. discloses a process for wet processing of denim fabric. The process involves contacting the fabric with potassium permanganate to oxidize the coloring agent, neutralizing the oxidized denim fabric, and bleaching the fabric. The neutralization step involves (i) immersing the denim fabric in about 5 to 20 parts by weight of a first aqueous solution per part by weight denim fabric, (ii) maintaining said first aqueous solution between pH 3.0 and 6.0, (iii) subsequently incorporating about 2 parts by weight of either a monodentate or multidentate carboxylic acid chelating agent or salt or combination thereof, and 1 part by weight hydrogen peroxide, and (iv) maintaining said first aqueous solution at about 65xc2x0 C. to 90xc2x0 C. for 5 to 15 minutes. The bleaching step involves contacting the denim fabric for 4 to 8 minutes at 65xc2x0 C. to 90xc2x0 C. with 5 to 20 parts by weight of an alkaline bleaching solution comprising from about 0.6 to about 4 parts by weight hydrogen peroxide and sufficient alkali to provide a pH of about 8 to 9.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,126 to Olson et al. discloses the use of cellulase to degrade or partially degrade the cellulosic fabric and release dye from the fabric to achieve the stonewashed appearance.
The prior art has heretofore been primarily concerned with producing a stonewashed appearance in denim fabrics. There remains a need for a chemical antiquing process that is devoid of mechanical abrasion of the fabric and that is suitable for a variety of fabric including cotton, rayon, nylon, polyester, acrylic, etc.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method for antiquing fabric that is devoid of mechanical abrasion and suitable for a variety of fabric including cotton, rayon, nylon, polyester, acrylic, etc.
The method comprises the steps of
a) treating the fabric with a dispersant leveling agent comprising anionic sulfonate;
b) dyeing the treated fabric; and
c) rinsing the dyed fabric with a softener.
The chemical treatment step (step a) may further comprise the following steps performed in a suitable apparatus so that heating and/or agitating may be effected:
i) adding a first amount of a dispersant leveling agent comprising anionic sulfonate to the apparatus;
ii) adding salt to the apparatus;
iii) adding the fabric into the apparatus; and
iv) heating the first amount of the dispersant leveling agent comprising anionic sulfonate, the salt and the fabric to a temperature of about 140xc2x0 F. to about 150xc2x0 F.;
The dyeing step (step b) may further comprise the following steps performed in a suitable apparatus so that heating, cooling and/or agitating and draining may be effected:
i) adding a first amount of dye to the apparatus;
ii) heating the contents of the apparatus (the first amount of the dispersant leveling agent comprising anionic sulfonate, the salt and the fabric) to a boil;
iii) adding a second amount of a dispersant leveling agent comprising anionic sulfonate to the apparatus;
iv) adding a second amount of dye to the apparatus;
v) agitating the contents (the first and second amounts of dispersant leveling agent and dye, the salt and the fabric) of the apparatus;
vi) heating the contents of the apparatus to a boil;
vii) cooling the contents of the apparatus to about 140xc2x0 F.; and
viii) draining the apparatus.